Maresias: Beach of the Often Rich and Sometimes Famous

The Gazeta Mercantil reported not so long ago on a temporary seasonal shopping mall in Maresias, a fashionable beach district. On the north coast of São Paulo state, frequented by the elite of the city of São Paulo, Maresias enjoys better name recognition than the municipality to which it belongs, São Sebastião. At the end of the story on the makeshift summer mall, the Gazeta cited these figures from the mayor’s office: “About 1.7 million people will visit [Maresias] beach this summer. Also according to municipal estimates, 88% of them belong to the upper class: 38% earn more than $4,000 a month, and 33% are between the ages of 26 and 35. Among the companies that are courting these consumers are Harley Davidson, Relógios Swatch, SuperClubes Breezes, Banco Itaú, Fazendo Onda, Obsession, Laselva, Arte na Rua, The Nutty Bavarian and Caloi.”

According to the 2000 census, the population of the city of São Sebastião stands at 56,000, but the average daily population, including summer residents and tourists is closer to 100,000, according to another Gazeta Mercantil article that cited as its source the head of the municipal environmental agency. Over a two-year period, the city government razed 250 buildings that were illegally built in environmentally-sensitive areas, according to that article. Maresias ranked among the districts hit hardest by illegal construction. About three-fourths of the land area of the city of São Sebastião lies within the Serra do Mar State Park and is thus subject to strict environmental controls. (The region is also dotted by Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPNs) like one I visited on a short afternoon hike organized by a company called EcoDynamic. See below for the link.)

Yet another report in the Gazeta Mercantil suggested that the best time to visit Maresias would be precisely when most of the 1.7 million summer visitors have returned to their climate-controlled offices in São Paulo’s skyscrapers. The author of this piece waxed nostalgic about the old days, when rutted and muddy dirt roads kept the riff-raff at a safe distance. “Today people drive powerful four-wheel drive imports that perhaps would have made it through the quagmires of earlier times. But they are impotent against the traffic jams that reign during summer months and holiday weekends. Beginning in May, however, the tread runs more quickly over the asphalt. In less than two and a-half hours [from São Paulo], you can be in Maresias – and without having to confront a single pothole.” That article quotes a German tourist named Trude Meyer, who reportedly wrote a postcard to a British friend that said: “This is the most romantic bay I have seen in my whole life.” Added the reporter, “French and Americans also seek out this beach when they visit Brazil – so much so that a van service links Maresias directly to the international airport in Guarulhos [André Franco Montoro International Airport, serving São Paulo].” Foreigners have long set their sights on Maresias: it was a German who set up the first pousada, or inn, on the beach here.

Surfing, Jiu-Jitsu and MTV

Maresias rated six of a possible 10 stars from GlobalSurfers, an online guide to surfing around the world. The site described Maresias beach this way: “This spot is full of nice beautiful Brazilian girls. It's also one of the best spots to surf on the north coast of São Paulo state. If you want a nice spot to surf and get some chicks, [this is] the right [place].” A self-appointed expert named Daniel posted a notice on GlobalSurfers that warned of some unusual surfing hazards in Maresias - Jiu-Jitsu fighters. Apparently, like tennis star Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten, many of the leading figures in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are surfers. And many top Brazilian surfers are Jiu-Jitsu fighters, too. This information comes from Royler Gracie, a member of the legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu family, in an interview I found on a Portuguese language website called SurfReporter. “The relationship between Jiu-Jitsu is perfect,” he said. “I started catching waves when I was 12. Surfing and Jiu-Jitsu have a lot in common because when you’re doing either sport, you forget everything else.”

Enjoying a trend-setting cachet envied by some of its sister music channels elsewhere, MTV Brasil has chosen Maresias as the site for its Beach House summer headquarters. There MTV films programs like Luau, a kind of unplugged on the sand, and Rockgol, a beach soccer tournament that pits rock bands against each other in Brazil’s national sporting pastime. “Maresias was chosen due to the fact that it is one of the most happening beaches on the Paulista coast,” said an MTV Brasil spokesperson. (Click on the Image Gallery link below to see photographs of MTV Brasil’s summer antics in Maresias.)

My Visit

No Jiu-Jitsu fighters offered hazards during my brief visit to Maresias. Nor did I bump into any regular Beach House guests like, say, Roger from Ultraje a Rigor – who happens to be a boyhood friend of BrazilMax contributing photographer Paulo Fridman. Though I visited at the peak of the summer, in January, I didn’t feel as if I were being overrun by 1.7 million people. I did spot a “shantytown for the rich” – a set of side-by-side, cookie-cutter summer homes that the city government should raze on aesthetic grounds alone.

The term “maresia” literally means “the strong sea-smell when the tide is out.” The term has acquired a slang meaning that refers to the pot smoke that is known to drift through certain public gatherings like rock concerts. The slang meaning appears in the chorus of a song called “Cachimbo da Paz” (Peace Pipe) by Brazilian rapper Gabriel O Pensador.

Many of the commercial establishments in Maresias sport decorative motifs that are vaguely reminiscent of Bali. And that gives me a perfect segue into the story of Lupercio Conde Júnior, the proprietor of the Pousada dos Condes, the upscale but relaxed place where I stayed thanks to an invitation proffered by Holofote Assessoria em Comunicação, the inn’s public relations firm.

Conde used to camp out in Maresias as a youngster. After the access road to the beach was finally paved in the mid-1980s, he realized that the region was ripe for tourism development. Having visited Bali several times during a stint abroad in Australia, Conde loaded up a container with teakwood furnishings and decorative objects from the Indonesian resort town to fill his establishment. In the process, he unwittingly created a side-business importing teakwood furniture for patrons who want to copycat the pousada’s decor in their private homes. “Nobody had ever seen these masks here,” Conde said, recalling the pousada’s inauguration. Now Bali knockoffs can be spotted all over Maresias.

Conde wants to position his pousada in the “wellness” segment by offering additional services like massages and yoga classes. From the beginning, the pousada offered a modest but sufficiently well-stocked weight room. A Brazilian magazine ranked the fitness center at the Pousada dos Condes as one of the best in Brazil – right up there with the São Paulo property of a major chain. I lifted weights side-by-side with a Los Angeles-based radio executive who was visiting his Brazilian girlfriend who lives in Campinas. He makes a point of staying at places where he can be sure of a good workout, and he gave the Pousada dos Condes fitness center his seal of approval. Surfing classes and a broad range of ecotourism activities are available through a partnership with EcoDynamic.

The staff at the Pousada dos Condes gets high marks for efficiency compared to most small Brazilian hotels and inns. One employee recommended the Restaurante Terral Maresias for dinner, and we thanked him for it. Simple by the upscale standards of this beach, the Terral features home-style seafood and fish with honest portions and reasonable prices that – given the full house – seem to appeal even to the rich and famous.

Travel to Maresias

Pousada dos Condes

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	Maresias Beach